Returning Home
by Phoebe Cyane
Summary: Varia and Gwyntiere disappear after a great battle, and it's up to them to return home and save the Amazons...Contains copy scenes from "One against an army" and "In sickness and in hell".


  
  
Long ago, in Ancient Greece, a huge battle broke out between the Romans and the Amazons. Not too long before the battle, the Romans had taken over Amazon land. That's what triggered the Amazon's revenge thoughts. As for the Romans, well, they were angry at the fact that the Amazons had stopped worshipping Artemis, Xander's mother, a Greek goddess, when she had needed them the most. Many lives were lost during this particular war, including the queen of the Amazons, Varia, and her second in command, Gwyntiere. Or were they really gone…?   
  
  
Deep in the forest, two young women were traveling together side by side.   
"Ouch!" Varia exclaimed, as her arm brushed against a tree branch, scratching her elbow. She groaned and continued walking.   
"Are you all right?" Gwyntiere looked at her friend for a reply.   
"Yeah I'm fine, just a little scratch, nothing big. I have a feeling we're not going to make it," she told her.   
"We're Amazons, Varia. We have to have confidence. We are going to make it, because we're strong and the most important thing is to never give up," she told her with a smile of reassurance. Suddenly out of nowhere, a handful of warriors jumped in front of the women and drew their swords. By their uniforms, Varia realized they were Romans.   
"What do you want?" Varia asked in an irritated tone.   
"We've been sent by Xander himself, the emperor of Rome," the tallest one informed her. Varia drew her sword as Gwyntiere got her staff ready to fight. Xander was the commander of Rome, ruler of the very army that had attacked her sisters not so long ago. Then, obviously not to Varia's surprise, the Roman warriors attacked them. Varia struck them with her sword, and kicked one of them to the ground. Gwyntiere beat them senseless with her staff and in no time, the women had them running away back towards Rome.   
"Well, that was no surprise. Looks like Xander hasn't given up after all," Gwyntiere said, sighing.   
  
Meanwhile, back in Rome, Xander looked out his window to discover his warriors retreating. He greeted them, looking around.  
"Where are they? You vowed that you'd bring the queen and her second in command to me. Have you failed yet again?" he asked them, slightly disappointed yet also very agitated.   
"I'm sorry sir, but they were too quick. We had very few men with us, and those Amazons are tough," The leader of the group told him.   
"Well then I guess I'm going to just have to get them myself. Those Amazons are going to be tough to beat, but with my best warriors, they won't stand a chance," he assured them, although in his mind he hadn't convinced himself.   
  
Varia sneezed and continued to walk when Gwyntiere began to tell her something.   
"You know, Xander's not going to give up until he sees the Amazons defeated. That's why we need a plan because if we don't have one, then he'll destroy us all."   
"You're right. We need to get home to our sisters so we can group together and get ready for Xander's army. That way we can be prepared for him," Varia told her.   
They soon came across a river, and it occurred to them both that they had to find a way to cross it. Gwyntiere thought for a moment and then discovered a small raft not too far down the bank. She pointed it out to Varia, who ran down to get it. She came back to her friend with it, and they talked it over to figure out how they were going to use it.   
"Do you think it'd hold us both?" Gwyntiere asked Varia.   
"I don't think so. It's rather small. I figure, if I go across on it, I can float it back to you and then you can come meet me on the other side." Varia looked to her for approval.   
"Okay," She agreed. Varia put the raft on the water, and slowly climbed up on it. It barely held her weight, but she made it across. Then she pushed it back to Gwyntiere, who climbed on it as Varia had done, and soon enough they were both walking through the forest again, on dry land. As they were walking, the two women began to discuss how things might have changed during the year they had been missing.   
"They most likely chose a new queen for the time being. But when we return, then the right of queen hood would of course be yours, Varia." Gwyntiere stated.   
"Yes, but I don't know for sure if I want it back. I think you would make a much better queen than I, Gwyntiere. You are independent, smart, and willing to do anything for our sisters. I admit that I was a good queen as well, but I went against Amazon law and attempted to kill one of our sisters. It may have been because I wanted our tribe to live on, but it wasn't going to if I had just killed Gabrielle like that." A look of guilt spread across her face.   
"Yes I know, and I have to admit, it wasn't very smart and it did make you less wanted as queen, but you were a better queen than I ever could be. When that warlord told you that he would spare us all if you killed Gabrielle, you were thinking of our sisters. Besides, Marga wanted you to take her place as queen, and so you shall." She smiled, hoping to cheer her friend up. Varia smiled back and sighed heavily. She knew Gywntiere was half-right, but she wasn't going to let it show just yet. They continued to walk in silence for what seemed like forever, when Varia sensed a strong force coming towards her. She turned around and threw her hand out just in time to catch an arrow.   
"Where are those coming from?" Gwyntiere asked her companion in curiosity.   
"Xander's men. They're trying to hit us with the arrows to make us more vulnerable. As long as we keep out of the way though, they'll eventually give up, assuming we've been hit," Varia told her. Suddenly a thick stream of arrows came flying at them. Varia and Gwyntiere dodged most of them, but one hit Varia in the back of the shoulder.   
"Varia! Are you okay?" Gwyntiere asked, a look of concern on her face. She tucked her wavy red hair behind her ear and examined Varia's wound.   
"We have to get out of here. Come on." She put Varia over her shoulder and walked carefully over to a small stream, out of the arrows' range.   
"Okay, now this is going to hurt, so be still," Gwyntiere commanded. She broke off the back of the arrow, the tail, and tossed it to the side. She began to push the remains of the arrow through and pulled it out slowly as it came out the other side of Varia's shoulder.   
"Ouch!" Varia exclaimed, and groaned as her friend finished pulling out the arrow. Gwyntiere brought it just below her nose, sniffed it, and frowned.   
"What is it?" Varia asked, concerned.   
"Poison."   
  
"Cretan! Get in here!" Xander yelled out into the hallway for his second in command. A tall man entered the room.   
"Yes sir?" Cretan asked him, half-expecting another lecture.   
"Well? Did my men manage to capture the young Amazons?" Xander asked, hoping the answer to be positive.   
"Not yet sir. They claim to have fired the arrows just as you said, but when they went to grab the girls, they were nowhere to be seen. Tarsus was almost sure one of them had been hit, if not both, but somehow they had managed to escape." He waited for Xander to reply. Silence filled the room for what seemed like an eternity, when Xander finally spoke.   
"Those Amazons have proved to be very smart. Although they may think the worst is over, they're wrong. When they stopped worshipping my mother, they made a mistake. My army will attack their territory very soon and when we arrive, there will be no stopping us."   
  
Gwyntiere held a small tree branch over the fire until it was red-hot. Then she walked with it over to Varia.   
"This is going to sting, but it should help." She carefully placed the hot end of the branch into one side of Varia's wound.   
"Uhhh!" Varia yelped, almost screaming. Gwyntiere repeated the same to the other side, getting the same reaction from her friend.   
"I didn't feel a thing," Varia said weakly, obviously doing a poor job at trying to hide the fact that she was lying.   
"All right. We're done," Gwyntiere assured her.   
"Will it get the poison out?" Varia asked.   
"No. It's already moving through your system. But it should slow it down long enough for us to find the antidote."   
"What is the antidote?" She threw yet another question at Gwyntiere.   
"It's a serum. It'll clean your system and destroy the poison. Now we don't have a lot of time, so we need to get home where we can get it." She helped her friend to her feet, and draped Varia's arm over her own shoulder to help her. She walked with her, as Varia limped and from time to time they had to rest so that Varia could catch her breath. Pretty soon, they had traveled for miles, and darkness was approaching.   
"Okay, we're going to rest here until dawn. By then we should reach the Amazon village by late afternoon." Gwyntiere spread out two soft blankets and by the time she had gotten herself settled down for the night, Varia had already fallen asleep.   
  
"Varia? Varia, wake up." Gwyntiere shook her friend's arm a little, expecting her to wake up and complain about how no one ever lets her sleep. But Varia didn't budge. Gwyntiere began to worry.   
"Varia! Wake up!" she screamed. Varia's eyes shot open.   
"I'm awake!" Varia sat up, slightly irritated. She remembered her sore shoulder and groaned.   
"Are you feeling any better?" Gywntiere asked her.  
"No. Although it has gotten a bit numb, no improvements." Gywntiere helped Varia up.   
"No…I can't." Varia sat back down on the cold ground. She shuddered, grabbed a blanket, and wrapped it around her shoulders.   
"Okay. Well I'll just cook some breakfast and then we can get moving again."   
Suddenly, they heard a rustling noise coming from the bushes. Gwyntiere reached her hand in the leaves, and pulled on something. She yanked Joxer out and smacked him upside the head.  
"Just what did you think you were doing? Trying to scare us?"   
"I—I wasn't. I heard you two and decided to just, you know, come and say hi…!" he laughed nervously. Gwyntiere rolled her eyes.   
"Hi Joxer. Gwyntiere, I'm going to go catch a rabbit for breakfast. And don't worry, I'll be fine." Varia stood up, and headed away from the campsite.  
"Be careful!" Gwyntiere yelled out to her friend. She turned to Joxer, and smiled half-heartedly.   
  
Varia had been walking a short distance, when she spotted a rabbit. She grinned and grabbed a small handful of berries from a nearby bush. She tossed one and watched the rabbit nibble at it.   
"You're such a cute little rabbit…" she tossed a few more berries, nearing closer, getting ready to catch it. Then, surprisingly, the rabbit opened its mouth and revealed sharp, long teeth. It growled, and Varia stood up, trying hard not to panic. She backed away slowly. But the rabbit leaped on her, biting at her neck. She yelped and tried to pull it off of her. She tried to throw it against a tree, but it wouldn't budge. Finally after a lot of yelling, she flung it off of her. Varia limped back towards the campsite, gasping for air.   
  
"So tell me again, why did we have to eat my stew?" Joxer asked Gwyntiere. They were all sitting in a cave, after walking for miles. Joxer had made his infamous radish stew, and it had a slight bitter taste to it.   
"Because someone couldn't catch the wittle wabbit..!" Gwyntiere said, obviously annoyed. She laughed a little.   
"Little?! Gwyntiere, that rabbit was worse than the harpies in a bad mood!" she said, and thought to herself "Ugly little things…those creatures that surround Hades' domain."  
"Yes, sure it was…" Gywntiere told her, not believing a word. Varia glared at her for a minute, and set down her half-eaten bowl of stew. "I'm full." She grinned at Gwyntiere, and knew she was thinking the same thing. Joxer's stew was indeed horrible…but at least they could tolerate it, rather than starve.  
"Come on, let's go," Gwyntiere finally spoke after minutes of silence. They walked out, and traveled in the woods for what seemed like forever. Then Varia saw the Amazon village.   
"I'm going to go now. Because people need my help, I am Joxer the Mighty!" He wandered off. Varia laughed. 'Sometimes Joxer really is a little too full of himself, but deep down, he's got a good heart.' She thought. Varia followed Gwyntiere towards their village, and soon they had reached the huts. Gwyntiere opened the door, and walked inside.   
"Gwyntiere! Varia! We never thought we'd see you again!" Cyane exclaimed.   
"Cyane, Varia needs help. She was hit with a poison arrow, and we need the serum." Cyane ran off, and came back with a small bottle in her hand. Gwyntiere took it from her, and helped Varia sit down.   
"Here. Drink this." She put the bottle to Varia's lips, and poured a little down her throat. Varia smiled, and sighed a sigh of relief.   
"Varia, my queen, Xander's men are coming!" Cyane told her. Varia grinned at the sound of being addressed as the queen again. It felt good.   
"Yes, and when they get here…we'll be ready for them."   
  
"Prepare the horses! Amazons, it's time to fight! We will meet Xander's army down in the fields, and there, the battle will commence," Varia told her sisters. She was getting weapons together. Suddenly, Cyane entered Varia's hut.  
"My queen, we've got the horses ready. All we need is your approval," Cyane explained. Vaira nodded, and watched Cyane exit. Varia sat up with some weapons, and walked outside. There were a total of eight wagons, with two horses ready to guide each one. She smiled. Varia loaded the weapons she was carrying, onto the biggest wagon. It was the one she would be riding, leading the other Amazons into battle.  
"Sisters! We must go now!" Varia called out. Soon after the others were letting themselves up into the wagons. They were carrying swords, staffs, and crossbows. Varia hopped up onto her wagon, accompanied by Gwyntiere.   
"Ready?" Varia asked her.  
"As I'll ever be," she answered.   
"Yah!" Varia grabbed hold of the reigns and commanded the horses to take off. They did and eventually, all eight wagons were on their way to the fields. Each of the wagons contained approximately four Amazons. That would make thirty Amazons total, including the queen and her second in command.   
Only moments later, they had reached their destination and the Romans had already begun to arrive.   
"By the gods…" Gwyntiere thought. "There's hundreds of them." She slowly slid out of the wagon, as did the rest of the Amazons. Varia drew her sword and peered at the Romans.  
"Xander, I know you're here," she muttered loudly. Xander showed up from behind his army, and neared closer to Varia.   
"You and your…sisters stopped worshipping my mother when she needed you the most. Big mistake." He got closer to her.  
"Artemis…she wasn't our goddess anymore. We never got any support, any help, any…hope. She didn't believe in us."  
"I wonder why…you're weak. All of you!" he yelled at the others. Varia scoffed in disgust and kept her sword ready in her right hand.  
"Time to die, Amazon," he told her, almost too sure of himself. His voice was low and deep. Varia swung her sword at him, and he blocked the blow with his own sword. That was the signal for the Amazons and Romans to begin fighting.   
"Why don't you give up now, Amazon?"  
"Amazons don't give up. Unlike you ruthless Romans, only in it for yourselves!" Varia yelled, and threw her sword towards him again. He blocked it, and kicked her in the back of the head. As Varia fell forwards, she flipped, flew in the air, and came down, smashing into Xander. He went crashing into the ground, with her above him. He threw her off of him, and she landed on her feet. He got up and ran at Varia again.  
"Gwyntiere, look out!" Cyane yelled. Gwyntiere threw her fist behind her and punched a Roman in the nose, knocking him unconscious. Cyane smiled, and whipped her staff around just in time to clobber another Roman. She hit him upside the head, then in the shins, and finally she knocked his feet out from under him. Her blonde hair fell in her eyes and she brushed it away. Cyane glanced over at Gwyntiere, who was occupied with a Roman hovering over her, sword raised. Cyane frantically searched for something, when she spotted a crossbow. She picked it up and ran over to the Roman.   
"Stay away…" Cyane commanded. He scoffed, and got closer to Gwyntiere with the sword. Gwyntiere grabbed the arrow from the crossbow and shoved it into the Roman's chest.  
"Poison. Just like Varia," she said in a low voice. "I'm going to let you die quicker…but with much more pain!" she pulled it out, and watched as he fell to the dirt.   
"Are you okay?" Cyane asked Gwyntiere.   
"I'm great. Let's get this battle over with," she responded, getting to her feet. Cyane picked her staff back up from the ground and spun around, whacking three Romans in the head. They all groaned, and fell flat on their faces.   
"Nice one," Gwyntiere told her. Cyane nodded her head, and continued to fight. Gwyntiere spun her sword around between her fingers and smiled.   
Varia flew across the field, and skidded in the dirt, getting her dark brown hair dirty. She hopped up, re-sheathed her sword, and ran at Xander. She grabbed him by the shoulders, flipped herself over him, and landed on the other side. Then she stuck her foot in the middle of his back, pushed him up over her, and he went flying backwards in the other direction. After she had kicked him, Varia fell to the ground. She threw her legs upwards and flipped back up on her feet. Varia ran over to where Xander was still lying on the ground, and pointed her sword to his neck before he could protest.   
"Give up, Xander. It's over."   
"Never…" he gasped. Xander pulled a small dagger out of his vest, and prepared to throw it at Varia, without her noticing. She sensed what he was doing, and plunged her sword into his heart. He groaned, and his head turned to the side. He was dead. Varia sighed heavily, and glanced at the battle before her.   
"Your leader is dead! Go back, you have lost!" she yelled to the Romans, and within a few minutes, the warriors were retreating to their horses, and they all rode off. Varia walked around the field. They had won.   
  
Gwyntiere watched the fire burn, the flames reflecting in her eyes. She had lost four sisters, all fighting for their lives and their land. Gwyntiere walked past the four funeral fires, and approached Varia. Varia wrapped her arms around Gwyntiere, and hugged her tightly as tears rolled down Gwyntiere's pale face.   
"They will always be with us in our hearts…we must mourn them, and move on. It's time to begin a new life," Varia told her, and smiled. "It's going to be a beautiful evening," Varia thought, as she gazed up at the stars in the dark blue sky.   
  
  



End file.
